“Have two strangers arrived here yet?” she asked.
“They haven’t,” answered the man.
Laura was glad she had undertaken the journey when she saw the sudden intentness of his face.
“Two of them are on the trail?” he inquired sharply.
“Yes,” said Laura. “They have gone round by the pack-horse trail. I rode in by the new one.”
The man was astonished that she had accomplished the trip, and she saw that he was troubled.
“Well,” he advised, “you had better go right on and tell Nasmyth as quick as you can. It’s my business to see no strangers get in, or I’d go with you.”
Laura left the horse with him, and, descending the 322 gully, found an unusual number of men busy beside the river. In fact, she believed that all those who had been at work in the valley must have crossed the range to the cañon. It was also evident from their faces that most of them were in a state of eager expectation. Something out of the usual course was clearly going on. She asked for Nasmyth, and a few moments later he came scrambling towards her along the log staging. There was, she was quick to notice, a strained look in his eyes, but he shook hands with her, and then, remembering the state of her attire, she coloured a little.
“Do you expect two men from the city to-night?” she asked.
Nasmyth started. “I have, at least, been wondering when they would turn up,” he answered. “There are two men of that kind on the trail?”